Postby Hasbeen » 20 Sep 2010 13:14
That Bathurst stuff brings back memories.
Just for comparison, I dug out some of my records from the old days.
The track was a bit different, with murrays, & hell corner both much tighter, so low second gear corners, but no chase to slow the straight.
My Morgan +4, with 5"rims, & road tyres, [probably Pirelles], required by the regs, did;
In 63, with 79BHP at 4600RPM at the wheels did 3.20.9. I won the 1500/2000 class of the Le mans start 8 lapper. Flying 1/8Th 124.4 MPH
In 64, with 92BHP at 4700RPM did 3.06.2, which was a new lap record for under 2L Improved Production Sports cars. Flying 1/8 124.6 MPH.
To put that in perspective, My Lotus 20 FJ, 1100cc pushrod in 66 did 2.42.5 & 133MPH flying 1/8Th, & finished 3Rd outright in the Bathurst 100 [miles] Formula 1 race.
My F2 Brabham, 1100cc in 67 did 1.36.1 [a lap record never beaten] & 142MPH. Also finished 3Rd in the Bathurst 100 F1 race.
In the Scuderia Veloce Brabham Repco 2.5L formula 1 in 68 did 2.15.5, which would have been the first ever 100 MPH lap of Bathurst, if some bloke called Kevin Bartlet had not done it a few laps before me, & a couple of tenths quicker.
Still, he broke his car, so that year I won the Bathurst 100, second only to the AGP in importance back then.
68 was the first year of the Holden Monaros. We & the Ford GTs were doing just under the 3 minute mark when flat out, & running around 3.3 or 3.4 continually, so very similar to that Triumph. My Monaro was getting 128 MPH down the straight, but the quickest were getting 133 MPH. I think the Triumph was a bit quicker than that
A real comparison is the climb up from the cutting. In the Monaros, we were on 6" rims, & XAS Michelins, & I could leave it flat [but only just], from the cutting right to skyline, so that Triumph must have some poke.
Hasbeens
